Sunday, November 29, 2009

We went up north to chop down our Christmas tree today! I've never cut down my own tree before, so I think we started a yearly tradition today. We went with Brett's parents and scoured the fields for the perfect tree. Thank goodness I wore my rain boots because it was so muddy! This would have been a lot prettier in the snow, but.. no complaints yet. The snow will come eventually and I'll end complaining about it after a few days anyway. Hehe. The place we went to get our tree was perfect!

I think I found one..!

Let's chop it down!

Tiiiiimber!

...and the finished product!

I love it! We bought all new lights, bulbs, beads and a skirt for it this year. The past two Christmases, we've used our hand-me-downs and decided this year to go all out. We went with the red look, obviously. I love it! So classy. It's nice getting further into marriage because we're finally getting all of our own stuff. Plus, I got a very nice bonus this year for Christmas and so we're able to do a bit more for the holidays! We're going all out for the holiday party too that's coming up! I'm super excited. I love this time of year.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

I woke up this morning around 11 am! That is so late.. but I didn't get to bed until 3:30 am. That is even crazier for me. We got ready and Peter drove us out to his family's house in Gun Lake which is about one hour and 10 minutes from us. We walked down by the water and snapped a few shots. It was weird to see this place in the colder months because the dock was gone and there weren't a million people around. Gun Lake is a tradition every July.

(romper - forever 21 | necklace - forever 21 | tights - target

cardigan - silence & noise at urban | boots - jeffrey campbell)

We ate dinner there, played some Trivial Pursuit, ate some really good pumpkin pie and headed out! We had to stop so Peter could get some head shots taken by his sister and raced back to Grand Haven to go see Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was good (from what I saw).. because I totally fell asleep in the movie theater. Fur hood up and everything! I've been so tired. This weekend has flown.. and it has been exhausting!

Now.. I'm finally home on the couch. It feels too wonderful. I'm watching Christmas movies on television. The Santa Clause is on right now.. and Jingle All The Way is on next. Yippie! Tomorrow.. I have so much to do. I have to clean, we're going with Brett's parent's to cut down our Christmas tree, we're going to decorate it, I need to go grocery shopping, work on homework, do laundry.. gosh. I'll be so excited for fall semester to finish! 2 more weeks! I think I'm going to do something special for my blog readers coming soon. Stay tuned!

It's beginning to look a lot like... Michigan! The sun has disappeared for the past couple of days and the temperatures are dropping. Michigan's winter weather is fast approaching. I got up super early (8 AM for me is super early!) to go shopping with Andrea. We went over to Grand Rapids, browsed the mall in 30 minutes, browsed Target in 2 minutes. The lines were insane. It was kind of discouraging and you had to make push and shove with a lot of crazy ladies with overflowing carts. So we made our shopping trip a little bit short, got some pumpkin spice lattes and she dropped me off home for a while. Brett, Peter and I went out to Target in our area (way less busy!) and I got tons of great deals on some gifts. I also stocked up on wrapping paper, bows and tags. The essentials! We also got a few gifts out of the way. We got home, decorated a bit of the apartment up and put up our mini-tree. (We don't get our real tree until Sunday!) and snapped a few pictures out in the 40 degree cold!

I just picked up this jacket today. It was only $30! I got a size up so I could get cozy inside of it. It has a red plaid inside and a huge furry hood. I love it. Perfect for these upcoming winter days. I always buy too many shoes and jackets. Except I'm stuck on my Jeffrey Campbell boots still (sorry, guys!) but they're too perfect with every outfit and I adore them to pieces. I'm also wearing them again tomorrow (I apologize ahead of time!) but man. Love them. This is also a skirt (that's way too big for me now.. I had to clip it in the back to keep it up) from a long time ago. I got it in Chicago two summers ago.. but I still love it!

(skirt - forever 21 | boots - jeffrey campbell

tights - target | jacket - zenana outfitters)

I also ran to Hobby Lobby to pick up a bunch of new decorations for our tree and a few things for our upcoming Christmas party and it came to $125! I almost pooped, but oh well. At least I won't have to buy those things next year.. I can keep the same tree stuff for a while. Andrea and I met up again, went and did a little bit more shopping, I got a super cute thing to wear tomorrow and can't wait to post it.. and we went to see Whip It. It was my second time seeing it.. and I loved it just as much as the first time. She loved it too. I dropped her off to her car and drove back to Grand Rapids to eat at Steak 'N Shake with a ton of friends. It was a blast.. seriously. I loved every second of it. Wonderful day. Hope everyone had a great day too!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving! Today has been a whirlwind of a day! I was woken up by Brett this morning in the most annoying way ever! I had to get up just to get him to leave me alone! Hehe. He's the worst alarm clock ever. We got ready and went to my Dad and Shar's house first. We ate turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls and more. It was delicious! We stayed there for a while before having to run. We had 3 families we had to visit today. That's not a very fun Thanksgiving rushing around all day, but it was good to see everybody!

(my dad, me and his girlfriend, shar)

After my Dad's house, we stopped to my Mom and step-dad's house! My sister's family was over there and we weren't able to stay very long, but we made up a few plates to go and Brett ate a giant chunk of cherry cheesecake.. ugh. I could have killed him! Haha! We ran home to pick up Peter, drop off our trunk of food and head straight over to his parent's for dinner! Brett snapped a few shots outside too!

(skirt - thrifted | boots - target | tights - betsey johnson

top - forever 21 | necklace - forever 21 | jacket - gap)

This was Brett's mom's spread. It was so pretty. The dinner was delicious! I seriously stuffed myself today full of delicious food and now we have an entire fridge full of leftovers. My favorite things this year were the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin pie. Mmmm. Love Thanksgiving food!

(maggie is so cute)

I told everyone we had to get our family photo taken, so Brett obviously had to be my fill in for the test shot. Hehe!

When I was looking at these later, I was like.. Brett and Peter's faces are up to no good. See, I know these two boys better than anybody.. and look at those devious grins. Then I noticed Grandma's head... hahahah. Boys.

(this was our silly picture, teehee!)

After we ate desserts and dropped Grandma off home, the five of us drove out to Grand Rapids to see A Christmas Carol in IMAX 3D. I love 3D animated movies! It was a good movie, for sure, but it was scary! And depressing for most of the movie! But it was still really good. Now I'm in Christmas mode. Thanksgiving pretty much marks the end of the autumn season for me... even though I heard Michigan is supposed to have a green Christmas this year. That bums me out! Christmas is the only time of year that I actually do want snow! Let's hope for a white Christmas at least... and then it can go back to green! :D

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Omygosh! It's Wednesday! I'm on Turkey break! I worked all day today (no classes!) and came home to finish watching Some Like It Hot. I started it last night and finished it today. I've been wanting to watch that movie for forever and it was just amazing. It is, according to the American Film Institute, the best comedy of all time. I just love Jack Lemmon and he was amazing in the movie and Marilyn Monroe was just adorable. If you haven't seen it, you must! I'm a sucker for old classic movies. Brett and I were outside taking a few quick shots of my super casual outfit today and the train started passing by! I love living by this train.. I know it drives a lot of our neighbors nuts, but I love it! Hehe.

It was basically casual Friday today at work, so I went with my jeans, of course. This are my super comfy baggy ones that I love and have worn down so much since I've gotten them. It was pretty chilly outside today too - like 40 degrees or so, so I stuck with the coat, even though I'm sure most of you have seen it a million times! Plus the boots.. sorry guys, I'm kind of lame today! But this is my new hat from the Levi's store! I love it. And I don't think I've debuted this scarf before either! And I promise I'm not wearing these boots tomorrow.. haha! But I just love them. They're simply perfect.

(jeans - ae | bomber jacket - b hip! by me jane | scarf - f21

boots - jeffrey campbell | slouchy hat - levi's)

Peter is in town staying at our apartment all weekend, so I'm excited for all the plans we have coming up! I'm so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow! We have three families to visit, so expect lots of photos of family and food (and my outfit of course!) This weekend looks insanely busy and I'm very excited! I have plans to go shopping with Andrea on Black Friday and to go out at night! Saturday, we're visiting Peter's family with him. Sunday, we're chopping down a tree and decorating our place! Can't wait! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everybody!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

So it's starting to look a little bit more like Michigan in November (gray days) but at least the temperatures are staying up (for now!) Brett was freezing when we were taking these and I was super comfortable. I swear these sweater tights are 10x warmer than jeans. Plus it's 50 outside. That's warm! I worked this morning, took Brett out to lunch at Panera Bread (turkey artichoke on focaccia! mmm) and then headed to school. I got everything done I needed to in class, but I have to stick around for physics tonight. Ewww! I'm an art student in a physics class. How did that happen? Having to have the one science requirement, that's how. And having an insane schedule, that's how too. Oh well, almost done! 2 more weeks left of classes! Then I'm off to my final semester in college!

I am so super comfortable today in this outfit! I feel like I'm kind of coming into my own with my style, if that makes sense. I've always purchased the right pieces, just never knew how to put them together before. When I started getting into fashion more recently, my closet was a wonderland. How could I put these prints together, how can I make this new when I've already worn it 100 times? I feel like ever since I've started this my style has been all over the board, but now I feel like I'm approaching this style that totally fits me and it's kind of undefinable, but I'm loving it. I'm feeling way more self confident than any other time in my life (mostly thanks to you guys) but I'm just happy!

I adore playgrounds. In two out of the last three places we've lived, there has been a playground across the street! How perfect does that work out? Perfect. Well, except the first place inhabited drug dealers and men who exercised on the equipment doing pull-ups without their shirts on. Not exactly ideal, but it's living in places like that, that define you. Brett and I have the craziest stories from the Wesley house.

I bought this cardigan at Macy's this past weekend for $20. Can't beat that! It's the warmest and most comfy thing in the world too. I'm so happy when I go into the tween no-brand name section and find exactly what I want and for cheap. I'm in love with the fact that you can be totally stylish and not willing to shell out your entire paycheck on something. You just have to be creative. People will most likely love you for it anyway.

So! There are little snowflakes on my Macbook Pro dashboard for Thursday. If it snows, I'm sure it'll melt right away because the temperatures have been in the 50's, but mannnnn, I'm not ready for snow! I was hoping it would hold out until December 1st, we'd have a crazy wonderful white snowstorm, it would stay that way until December 31st, then it would all melt and go back to the weather we've been having lately until spring. Wouldn't that be lovely? Yes, it would.

Monday, November 23, 2009

#1 first and foremost, I'm so thankful for Brett. He's my best friend of all time. He's honestly the best person I've ever known in my entire life.. and he's my husband. I am so excited every single day that we're married. We are having the time of our lives and we always will, together. We've had the best relationship out of every relationship in my life. We talk about everything, we giggle and tickle each other, love to do everything together, miss each other after a day of not seeing each other.. and I'll never take a day for granted that I have with him.

I'm so thankful for home. Being in Michigan is where I'm meant to be and I couldn't be more grateful for the wonderful town and state I live in. I never take it for granted (maybe when it's 20 and blizzarding) but honestly those winter days define me. So do the gorgeous autumn days and the amazing feeling when spring arrives and the longing and never wanting them to go away summer days. I have had so much fun here and I'll have so much fun here in my future.

I'm so thankful for family. My family has been so amazing and supportive and wonderful throughout all the years. I wouldn't be where I am today without them. They define who I am, who Brett is, what our lives are about. I can always go to our families when we need them for anything. We love them so entirely much and are super thankful for them!

(my in-laws, brett's parents)

(my dad and shar)

(my mom (not pictured, my step-dad, dave!)

I'm so thankful for music. Music has been such a huge part of my life and I wouldn't be anything like I am today without it. I grew up in such a strong music community, where people supported each other and it was the best experience ever growing up. Especially thankful for Skelletones existing. (Farewell pictured, below.)

I'm so thankful for art. I go to an art and design college, I'm in love with art and what it's done for our city, for my friends, for my life. My best friend is an art teacher at an amazing school, I was able to get through a bachelor's degree because I loved what I was doing, it makes our city an amazing place to be (especially during Art Prize) and it's just one of the best things in my life. Whether it be fashion, photography, graphic design, fine art, drawing, art history, crafts or just art appreciation.. I'm in love.

I'm so thankful for friends. We have some so amazing friends. The ones we've had for years and know we'll always have in our lives in the future. Brett and I have spent so much time with these people and (I'm saying this about everything I swear...!) but they honestly make us much better people. We have so many amazing memories and can count on them for anything.

(peter has been our best friend for years, he'll someday be "uncle peter")

(andrea has definitely been one of my best friends)

(the tall ships gang is the best)

(and jen, the most wonderful person ever, i miss her so much)

And last but not least, I'm thankful for the beauty in this world. I know that sounds so corny and cliche, but as soon as I realized that drama was just so unnecessary and I grew up into an adult, I've just been so grateful for how amazing this world is. Life is so much fun, it's so beautiful and it's such a growing process into becoming the best person you can become. Life is wonderful.

Thanks so much to ModCloth.com for inspiring me to make this blog post. Be sure to check out their blog for lots of goodies every single day. One of my favorite blogs to read. Love you all, safe travels if you're heading out for Thanksgiving!

I'm a born and raised Michigan gal located in Grand Rapids. Selective Potential is where I share my personal style, adventures, trips around my home state, and bits about my life. Enjoy and be sure to say hello!